


This is a story that never ends

by Quacks



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Hurt Peter Parker, I Don't Even Know, I'm Bad At Tagging, I'm Sorry, Identity Reveal, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter is a Little Shit, Tags Are Hard, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-23
Updated: 2020-01-23
Packaged: 2021-02-27 15:53:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22369786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quacks/pseuds/Quacks
Summary: Some things, are privileged information. For example; Peter Parker's Identity.Only five people know the identity of Spider-Man.
Relationships: May Parker (Spider-Man) & Peter Parker, Peter Parker & Avengers Team, Peter Parker & Pepper Potts, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Comments: 2
Kudos: 352





	This is a story that never ends

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoy!

Only five people know the identity of Spider-Man. (Okay, maybe six, but she’s really hard to get a read on.) Those people are Tony Stark, Happy Hogan, May Parker, Ned Leeds, and, well, himself, Peter Parker. 

When May walked in on Peter in the Spider-Man suit, she was not at all surprised. Don’t get me wrong, she was pissed as hell, but still, she wasn’t surprised. Peter took after his Mother, Father, and Uncle. So why wouldn’t he be the neighborhood vigilante who helped little old ladies cross the street, rescue kittens from trees, stop muggers, capture robbers, take down drug cartels, and crashed planes into Coney Island? 

It was also no surprise when May grounded him for a month and cursed out Tony on the phone for an hour before going to do the same thing in person. Explanations were given, rules were set in place, and about 50 different protocols were created to ensure the safety of the spider kid. The most important rule was that Peter’s identity needed to be kept a secret, which everyone was immediately agreed upon. 

Creating the protocols was an interesting event. May would shout out ridiculous ideas to which Tony would have to explain why it wasn’t a feasible idea and then cower under May’s stern gaze as she threatened him until he agreed to do it anyway. For example; May suggested Tony create a protocol where Karen (Peter’s A.I) can control the suit and take it back to the tower if Peter got knocked out during a fight. Tony then calmly explained that putting the mechanics into the suit that allowed for it to not only move, but stand, walk, and climb with an unconscious Peter inside, would limit the flexibility of the suit, therefore causing a hindrance in Peter’s natural movement and fighting style. As per their routine, May threatened Tony with child neglect for taking a 14 year old into battle. Tony knew May would never follow through on the threat because it would mean giving up Peter’s identity, - which was a big no-no - but he agreed to entertain the idea, if only in hopes the woman might hate him a little less. By the end of it all, Peter felt like he couldn’t sneeze without Karen sending an alert to Tony. 

Tony took it upon himself to actually mentor Peter, so he started by giving the young teen an internship. Peter only ever worked in Tony’s lab which progressed to Peter’s official title in FRIDAY’s database being ‘Tony Stark’s Personal Intern’. In the beginning they only had lab days on Tuesday and Thursday, but that morphed into an added day here or a surprise day there. Eventually, labs days were everyday after school for a few hours and dinner with Tony, then Peter would go on patrol until curfew. There was also the part where Peter spent every other weekend at the compound with Tony. May was happy Peter had another father figure to look up to. (And she loved to watch as the boy’s cheeks flushed every time she referred to Tony as his dad.) 

Peter had to agree that after he adjusted to the new protocols and curfew, things seemed much better. Mr. Stark was basically his dad; even going so far as to ground Peter once. Life in general seemed to be looking up for Peter. Spider-Man was helping people, his grades were good, school was easy, Academic Decathlon was on a roll this year with MJ being captain, and Ned had just told him about a new lego set he got. “Dude! That’s awesome! We should totally hang out this weekend.”

“Don’t you have your, uh, internship this weekend?” Ned asked looking around to make sure no one was listening. They were sitting in their chemistry class working in pairs on an assignment. (Peter and Ned had finished in five minutes and were just trying to look busy so their teacher didn’t give them more work.) MJ and Betty were the closest to their table and would definitely be able to hear their conversation. Ned had been getting better at keeping his voice quiet while talking about Spider-Man, but they still referred back to code words more often than not. Besides, it wasn’t like they were lying about the internship anymore. The word just had more meaning behind it than most people would think. 

“Oh, shoot. I do.” Ned looked a little disappointed and Peter frowned, but it turned into an apologetic smile. “Next weekend for sure!” 

The bell rang to signal the end of school before Ned could answer. Both teens packed their bags before turning in their assignments, quickly making their way out of the building. It was Friday which meant Happy would pick Peter up from school and drive him to the compound. Any other day of the week Peter would find a dark alley to change in, then swing his way to the Tower for lab day. He liked the little bit of fresh air after being cooped up in school all day. 

Peter walked towards the familiar black Audi waiting for him. He stopped when he opened the door and noticed Tony sitting in the driver's seat. Tony had never picked him up from school before. Peter slowly climbed in the car - setting his backpack between his knees - eyeing Tony, who was focused on his phone, his brows furrowed in concentration. It was only when Peter shut the door that Tony seemed to realize he was there. “Oh! Hey, Underoos! How was school?” 

“School was good, my classes are really easy so I usually spend most of my time talking to Ned or working on my web fluid.” Peter shrugged then remembered his initial confusion. “Why are you picking me up? I mean, not that I don’t enjoy when you pick me up...Well, I guess you’ve never picked me up before...I like when you pick me up..this..one..time. And it’s not that I don’t like Happy to get me…”

Tony reached out to ruffled Peter’s hair as he smirked while listening to the boy ramble, before having a little mercy on his kid. “Pete, chill. I wanted to come get you today, that’s all.Now put your seatbelt on so we can go get food.” 

Peter was still a little confused, but with the prospect of food he buckled up and watched as Tony merged into traffic. The ride to the burger joint was quiet, yet comfortable. Walking into a restaurant with Tony Stark was a new experience for Peter. He had never gone out to eat with the man before, they usually just ordered take out. There was a young college aged woman who had greeted them. She immediately started blushing when she recognized Tony and was stumbling over her words. Tony was patient with her, giving her time to get over her initial shock and fan-girl moment. She lead them to a booth near the back away from most other people. A few people turned their heads to stare as Iron man passed their table, but no one stopped them. Peter felt his cheeks heat up at the attention, grateful when they arrived at the table and he could hide from their gazes. 

“Oh, sorry Pete, I should have thought more before coming inside.” Tony had forgotten the kid wasn’t used to the stares like he was. “We can get something to go if you’d like?”

Shaking his head, Peter turned down that offer. If Mr.Stark wanted to eat inside, then Peter could suck it up. “No, I-I’m okay Mr. Stark. We can stay.”

Tony raised an eyebrow at him, but when it didn’t seem like Peter was going to change his mind, he settled more comfortably into his seat. The waiter came to take their orders. It was obvious he had been told Tony Stark was sitting at one of his tables, because while there was a hint of pink in his cheeks, he remained professional. The only curious glance he shot them was when Tony asked him to triple Peter’s order, - Peter had only ordered one burger and a small side of fries - but he didn’t say anything. 

“Before you go,” Tony said as their waiter turned to leave and motioned to the six tables closest to them. “I need these booths around us to remain empty. I’m willing to pay the average table cost and will tip well to cover any lost services to you as a waiter. Can you do that for me?”

“I’ll have to check with the manager first, but I don’t see why that would be an issue. If you give me a minute, I’ll go check.” After a nod from Tony, their waiter turned on his heel. 

The thought that Mr. Stark had done that to ease Peter’s discomfort made the teen feel bad, but before he could question the man about it, their waiter returned with a confirmation that the booths would remain empty. 

“I know what you’re thinking, kid, but I didn’t do that for you. There’s actually something I need to talk to you about.” Tony said as soon as the waiter was out of ear shot. At Peter’s confused look, he continued. “It’s not public knowledge yet, not until tomorrow, but the accords have been amended and the rogues have been pardoned. A few of them moved back into the tower earlier this week. I meant to tell you sooner, but I’ve been busy with everything.”

His mind felt blank. Peter was having a hard time wrapping his head around everything Mr. Stark had said. The rogues are back. In the tower. The one’s Peter fought in Germany. Is that why Mr. Stark had picked Peter up, to tell him that he would no longer be able to visit the compound? Peter had to admit, that kind of hurt that the man - his mentor - would choose the people who back stabbed him, over Peter. The only noise he could make, without running the risk of tearing up, was a small little, “Oh.”

“It’s a lot to take it, we can sit here as long as you want before we head to the compound. I’ve told them a little about you, making sure your cover stayed intact. They just think you’re my intern. You don’t even have to meet them tonight, or this weekend, or ever, if you don’t want to. They don’t have access to my floor or the lab so it wouldn’t be a problem.”

Oh. 

Mr. Stark wasn’t kicking him to the curb. He was just giving Peter a heads up. That’s good. But still Peter could say anything other than a pathetic, “Oh.”

Luckily their food arrived at that moment and Peter busied himself with eating his three burgers while he gave his mind some time to catch up. Does he want to meet some of the Avengers? Peter isn’t quite sure. On one hand, they’re literal superheroes. ( Like, yeah, Peter is too, but it’s different. Don’t ask how, it just is.) Also, If Mr. Stark has let them back into his house, then they can’t be all bad, can they? Except, they abandoned Mr. Stark, used the weapons that he made them against him, and then shoved the Captain America shield into his Iron Man armor, leaving him in the freezing cold with no way home. That last one was just Captain America and the Winter Soldier, but still, the others were on their side so they are at fault too. It wasn’t until Mr. Stark had snapped in his face a few times that Peter came back to the present. “Sorry, what did you say?”

“Geez kid, I thought I broke you.” Tony said, dramatically placing a hand on his chest, which earned him an eye roll from Peter.

“From the way you’re acting I would say I broke you, old man.” Peter joked, a smirk pulling at his lips. 

Tony gasped loudly, earning a few curious glances, before pointing a finger in Peter’s face. “Now listen here, you little shit. I am in no way, even slightly close to being an old man.”

“Your gray hairs could have fooled me.”

Tony gave the teen an exasperated look before laughing. Peter continued onto his third burger as Tony finished off his first. “Back to before, I was asking what your thoughts were and if you wanted to meet them tonight.” 

Peter gave a noncommittal shrug as he swallowed his food. “I guess, I’d be fine meeting them. Are you sure they won’t connect the dots between me and, uh, you know…”

“I don’t think they will. It’s been almost two years and you’ve only been my intern for half of that. I think as long as we don’t mention your alter ego, we should be fine. Besides, you’re only ever at the compound as Peter Parker, so there won’t be any criss crossing between the two.”

There was still a little concern in Peter’s mind but Tony didn’t seem bothered, so Peter pushed it out of his mind. They finished their meal shortly after and hopped back in Tony’s car to start the two hour drive to the compound. Peter couldn’t stop his leg from bouncing due to his nervous excitement. His stomach was doing flips and there was a small line of sweat starting to form on his forehead. He quickly wiped it off with the back of his hand while grabbing his phone from his pocket - He may as well keep Ned updated. . 

< Peter-Man > i have to tell u something. 

< Guy-O-Chair > go on ...?

< Peter-Man > r u sitting down?

< Guy-O-Chair > i am now.

< Peter-Man > im going to meet some of the avengers rn. 

< Peter-Man > like, some of the rogues. they’re coming back. 

Peter didn’t have time to wait for a response because the car came to a stop and Peter looked up to see they were at the compound. It didn’t feel like they had been driving for two hours. Outside of the building stood Captain America, Black Widow, and Hawkeye. If the thudding of his heart was any louder, Peter was sure Mr. Stark would hear it. He was about to meet three very awesome and VERY deadly Avengers. He still hadn’t decided on if this was a good thing. Like always, Mr. Stark seemed to read his mind. “You can always change your mind kid. There’s nothing wrong if you don’t want to meet them today.”

A small look of disappointment flashed across Captain America’s face when Tony said that, making Peter wonder if he had enhanced hearing. He knew it was an uncomfortably long moment that they had been sitting in the parked car, so he needed to make a decision quickly. “I-I, uh, I think I’ll be alright.” Peter said, wincing slightly at how small his voice sounded. The Captain now looked confused and Peter was now sure that he could hear them. “Yeah, I’ll, uh, I’ll be okay. We should probably ...” His words trailed off as he motioned to the awaiting Avengers. 

Taking a moment to make sure Peter would be alright, Tony then nodded his head and opened his door. Peter followed suit and watch as the two assassins facial expressions matched Captain America’s confused one. Tony rounded the car in just a few steps, standing just barely in front of Peter, which the teen was extremely grateful for. “Cap, Nat, Clint.” Tony greeted the other three adults. “This is Peter, he’s my intern I was told you about.” 

The attention turned back on Peter gave a small smile. “Hi, it, uh, it’s nice to meet you all.”

“Peter,” Captain America greeted in a PSA worthy voice as he stuck his hand out. “It’s nice to meet you. Tony’s told us all about you. I’m Steve.” 

“Good luck getting him to call you that. I’ve been trying since we first met to get him to call me Tony, but I’m pretty sure he’ll still be calling me Mr. Stark until the day I die.” Tony snorted. Peter could tell he was trying to lighten the mood. 

“Mr. Stark, I just respect you too much to call you by your first name.” Peter said with fake innocence before his mind could stop him. It was meant to be a joke, but the implications were clear. He didn’t respect the rogues. They had yet to earn it, and with their track record, things weren’t looking too good for them. 

Thankfully, all the adults started laughing, which cut through any tension that was built in that moment. “Oh, kid. You’re great. I like you. Call me Clint.” Hawkeye wiped his eyes dramatically to clear his mock tears. 

“I see you’ve passed along your sass, Tony.” Black Widow took a step forward, scanning her eyes over Peter. “When you said your intern was young, I was thinking college age. Not, what? 13, 14 year olds.” 

“16.” Peter corrected, his eyes narrowing to match her gaze. 

“Hmm.” She simply hummed still looking Peter over before nodding briefly before reaching her hand out, like Steve had done. “Natasha or Nat, take your pick, and don’t even think about adding a ‘miss’ in front either or I’ll cut your tongue off.” 

“Geez, Nat, can you refrain from threatening my intern? If anything happens to him his Aunt will have my head.” Tony placed a hand on Peters shoulder, steering him into the building as he called out behind him, “We’ll be in the lab!” 

As soon as they were on the elevator headed down to the lab, Peter felt like he could breathe again. “Sorry about that kid, they can be a little overwhelming at first.”

“Eh, It’s all good. My spider sense wasn’t going off so I wasn’t too worried. I was really just nervous about embarrassing myself in front of them.” Peter made his way to his workbench and pulled out his notebook full of web fluid equations. 

Tony just chuckled lightly as he pulled up the schematics for the latest Spider-Man suit design. They had toyed with the idea of making it red and black, instead of red and blue. Peter really seemed to like the change and Tony would do anything to make his kid happy. They were in the process of trying to figure out how to get the web shooters to hold more fluid without making the cartridges larger. Tony was also working on Karen’s coding so that Peter couldn’t deny calling him if he got hurt on patrol, but that was his own project so the spider-baby wouldn’t groan about it the whole time. 

The pair worked for a few hours in the lab. Tony had some music on, but not loud enough to hurt Peter’s enhanced hearing. They would banter back and forth with each other, usually ending whenever Tony threatened to ground Peter if he commented on the man’s age one more time. Tony’s favorite part of lab time though was listening to Peter as he rambled about anything and everything under the sun. The kid never seemed to run out of fun facts or things to talk about. He was currently talking, “The fingerprints of koala’s are so indistinguishable from humans they have on occasion been confused at a crime scene.” 

“Boss, Miss Potts is requesting your assistance in the common floor kitchen.” FRIDAY interrupted. 

“Thanks Fri. Tell her I’m coming.” Tony closed down the holograms in front of him and then stretched out his muscles. He really should take more breaks from sitting hunched over a table. “Come on Pete, Let’s go see what Pepper needs.”

As they walked out of the lab, Tony explained to Peter how the Avengers - besides himself - lived on the same floor which had a large living room for lounging, and a kitchen/dining room where they would eat dinner together. 

Pepper was now one of the few people who knew Peter’s secret identity. When she and May met for the first time, Tony and Peter knew they it would only mean trouble for them. Both women could be terrifying if you got on their bad side. It was like Peter had two moms. Except, it was weird to think of Aunt May as his mom. For Pepper though, it felt right. Peter would never admit this, but it was still a nice thought. 

Walking into the kitchen, Peter saw Pepper was cutting up some vegetables and seemed to have something already cooking on the stove. She stopped when she saw Peter and walked over to him giving him a hug and pressing a kiss to his forehead. “Peter! How have you been? How’s school?”

Peter returned the hug, taking a moment to enjoy the warmth. “School’s good. Nothing too crazy. I’m just happy to be here.” 

“We’ll we sure love it when you’re here.” She replied turning back to her cutting board.

“Can I help you with anything?”

“You’re sweet, Peter. Thanks for asking. If you want to grab a knife you can help me chop up these veggies. Feeding a house full of superheroes, especially when a few of them have enhanced metabolisms, takes a lot of effort.”

“Who all has enhanced metabolisms?” Peter asked. He knew she was referring to him and thought maybe Steve, but he didn’t have a clue who else it could be. Unless…

“Steve and Bucky.” She replied giving him a look that said ‘you too’.

Peter had only heard the Winter Soldier called Bucky a few times, but he instantly made the connection. Just the thought of the rogue Avengers being back had made Peter nervous, but the Winter Soldier - the man who had killed Mr. Stark’s parents - had him shuddering at the wave of uneasiness that rushed over him. He didn’t know how Mr. Stark could forgive the man enough to trust him in his own home. Shooting a glance at his mentor, Peter could see him tense just a little, but to any normal person he would seem just as calm as before.

“So, Pep, what are we making?” Tony wrapped his arms around Pepper’s waist, giving her a gentle peck on the cheek. 

Setting down the knife she had been using, Pepper worked her way out of Tony’s arms opening the refrigerator and pulling out a large bowl of chicken breasts she’d been marinating. “I was thinking chicken fajitas, salad, and mexican rice.”

The thought of food had Peter’s mouth watering and his stomach letting out a loud growl. He felt his cheeks heat up as Tony and Pepper shot his amused looks. “My stomach think that sounds amazing!” Peter laughed out. 

“I think that sounds amazing too.” Steve had just walked from the common room, a large smile on his face. Peter jumped a little, subcounsciously taking a step closer to Tony and Pepper, who both looked unfazed by Steve’s sudden appearance. He took a moment to smile at Peter, before turning his attention back to Pepper. “Is there anything I can help you with?”

“How about all three of you boys go out and cook this chicken for me on the grill.” Pepper took the knife from Peter, making a motion to shoo them out of the kitchen. Tony grabbed the bowl of chicken, rolling his eyes. 

Standing back, Peter laughed as Tony and Steve bicker the whole time they were cooking the chicken. Right as Tony was threatening Steve - for the fifth time - the back door opened and out walked Bucky Barnes, upon spotting Peter, he made his way over. He looked a little nervous as he sat in the chair next to the teen, but there was a friendly grin on his face. Neither of them said anything and Peter was unsure of what to do. The man made him feel tense, despite his spidey sense staying quiet. In what he hoped was a subtle movement, he positioned himself as far away in his chair as was possible. He really just wished Mr. Stark would notice them and see how uncomfortable Peter was. 

Peter couldn’t stop the sigh of relief when Tony turned around to face the pair. The smile on his face fell as he stood up a little straighter. He looked at Peter, taking in the panicked expression. “Well, Cap, I think you can handle finishing up here right? Pete and I are gonna head on in.” Tony gave Steve a clap on the back before walking to the door and waited for Peter to jump out of his chair and shuffle over. They walked further into the building, out of earshot of the enhanced men, sitting on one of the large couches. Tony turned the TV onto some news station and slung an arm over the teens shoulders. “Sorry, kid. I should have been paying more attention. Bucky’s not a bad guy. I’m still working on forgiving him, but he’s not bad.”

Playing with the hem of his shirt, Peter sighed leaning into the man’s chest. “I know. I was just nervous. I didn’t know he was going to be here so it threw me off a little. It’s no big deal.” 

“We can always steal some food and take it upstairs. Get away from everyone. Maybe watch a movie or two?”

There was a moment of silence while Peter thought about this option. He was feeling a little overwhelmed and really just wanted to wrap himself in a blanket and watch movies with Tony and Pepper. He knew Tony wouldn’t offer if he wouldn’t be okay with it, but it didn’t stop Peter for checking. “Are you sure?”

Tony huffed a laugh while running his fingers through his kids hair. “Kid, You know I wouldn’t offer if I wasn’t sure.”

Peter smiled as Tony stood up from the couch. The man walked into the kitchen and told Pepper the plan. She agreed that it sounded nice, saying she would bring food up when it was ready. Giving Peter a thumbs up, the two of them made their way to the elevator without saying goodbye to anyone. They had just reached their floor when FRIDAY told them of an Avengers level threat in the middle of Queens.

Tony and Peter shared a look before asking FRIDAY to pull up video footage. From the looks of it, there was a man with long mechanical arms tearing through the streets. NYPD was at the scene, but their bullets didn’t seem to be having an effect on him. Tony knew telling Peter to stay put would be useless, so the least he could do was make sure the Avengers were helping. He asked FRIDAY to inform the team of the situation and have them meet on the quinjet. “Okay, kid, I know asking you to stay is out of the question, but I’m not putting your identity at risk. You need to hide somewhere on the jet, only coming out after we are all off. Got it?”

A short nod from Peter later had the two of them running out to the jet, the teen grabbing his suit from his backpack on the way. Thankfully no one else was on so Peter was able to hide without being spotted. Just a couple of minutes later and Steve, Nat, Clint, and Bucky were settling down into their seats. They arrived at the scene in less than ten minutes and loaded off quickly. 

Once the coast was clear, Peter slipped out of his spot joining in on the action. The metal man - that’s what Peter was calling him - was in the middle of throwing a car at towards Peter, or well, Spider-Man. There was a group of people behind him, so dodging the car wasn’t going to work. He caught the car with a small grunt, it really wasn’t heavy, but the force with which it was thrown threw Peter off a little. The four metal arms on the man weren’t really arms at all. Each one was over twenty feet long and had claw like features on the ends. They were attached directly to the man, begging the question if it would hurt if they were torn off. 

Each of the Avengers seemed to be trying to get to the metal man from different angles. Tony was in the sky, Steve and Bucky attacking from the sides, Nat was trying to sneak from the back, and Clint was perched on a roof shooting arrows. What the metal arms couldn’t fight off, the man himself was able to. Peter took a moment to assess what each person was doing before jumping into the fight, doing what he does best - taunt. “Hey! Why the long arms? Making up for a lack of length somewhere else?”

Yep, that got his attention. 

Peter heard a few annoyed sighs coming from the Avengers, but didn’t stop. He swung around the man ducking out of the way of the arms. “Throwing a tantrum like this isn’t going to solve any problems. Maybe you should use your words.”

“Spider-Man stop making him mad!” Tony yelled. 

“We’ve got this cover Spider-Man, we don’t need you getting in the way.” Steve added.

“Aw, come on guys! We can share. I don’t think Metal Man here will care.” Peter had wrapped a web around one arm and was trying to attach it to another, hoping to limit its movement. 

“Get out of here Spider-Man. You’re just causing problems.” Peter wasn’t expecting Steve to say that to him. He thought he’d been doing a good job. Even though it hurt a little to hear, Peter wasn’t about to leave before the fight was over. 

When one of the arms flung up to knock Tony out of the sky, Peter took that moment to web it to the wall of a building. With one arm stuck, and two others practically tied together, It didn’t take long for the Avengers and Spider-Man to take down the Metal Man. The Department of Damage Control was on the scene and talking with the Avengers within five minutes. Peter took that time to sneak back onto the quinjet. Tony texted Peter that he would meet him at the compound after he dealt with some legal paperwork. 

Everything was going fine until Peter’s stomach had to make itself known. He hadn’t been able to eat dinner yet and fighting always made him hungry. It really wouldn’t have been a problem except there were two other enhanced individuals on the jet who immediately looked to where Peter was hiding. Before he could register what was happening, Bucky was pulling Peter onto the floor in the middle of everyone. There were shouts of surprise at the sight of Spider-Man as they all lept into action. Clint had an arrow aimed at him, Nat had a gun against his head, and Bucky was holding him down. 

\-----------------------------------

If there was a time for panic, this was it. Tony had arrived back at the compound after dealing with the Department of Damage Control. They needed a few signatures for legal documents and seeing how Tony is the only one who can fly, he was chosen to stay behind. Any other time it wouldn’t have been an issue, but he wanted to get back and check on Peter. The kid has a tendency to downplay his injuries. Usually after a fight there is a lot of chatter, - not that there isn’t always a lot of chatter - but when Tony walked in the first sign that something was off was the quiet. “Fri, where is everyone?”

“You and Miss Potts are the only people in the building boss. Miss Potts is currently on a conference call in the office.” The A.I. replied dutifully. 

It had taken Tony almost thirty minutes to fill out the legal documents, plus his suit doesn’t fly as fast as the quinjet so that adds another twenty minutes. The team should be back by now. Tony pulled out his phone and was about to call Steve, when the man entered the room looking worried and frustrated. 

“Capsicle? Where is everyone?” Tony asked trying to act nonchalant. 

Steve’s eyebrows furrowed deeper than they already were. “We have an issue Tony. Spider-Man snuck onto the jet. He hasn’t said anything to give us a clue as to what he was after. Nat flew us to a warehouse about fifty miles north, to keep him away from the compound. She and Bucky have tried to get him to talk, and I have to say, some of their methods are not..not good.” He shook his head for a moment as if to clear an unpleasant memory. “They tried taking the mask off, but it won’t budge. How do you want to proceed?”

Tony felt the blood rushing out of his face. He knows it’s going to raise questions, but he can’t stop himself from calling a suit and before it has a chance to completely form around him, he’s jumping out of the window. His limbs feel frozen in fear and Tony has never been more grateful he made FRIDAY so perspective, because she is currently flying the suit towards the warehouse without Tony having to say anything. 

How could he have been so stupid? He should have paid more attention. If Tony had just kept a closer eye on Peter, this never would have happened. While he wanted to be mad at Steve and Natasha, he knows the only person he can blame is himself. The kid could have waited with him and he could have carried him as they flew back. Sneaking onto the quin jet was a stupid idea. It’s the Avengers for God’s sake, with super soldiers and assassins, of course they would notice the bright red spandex of the kid’s suit. 

Crashing in through the door, Tony heard Peter before he saw him. “I’m not trying to be rude, but I think torturing people for information is more of a villain thing to do. Then again, you all did fight against the law before. Maybe I shouldn’t be surprised you’ve gone bad again. Like people always say, ‘the past tend to repeat itself.’” There was a stifled grunt followed by a few curses. “Ow!”

When Tony turned the corner, he saw Nat standing beside Peter, a knife in her hand. The floor had quite a few splatters of blood, but thankfully no puddles. The suit had holes in it where Peter had been cut and his shoulder was definitely dislocated. Peter was tied to a table with rope - that he easily could have broken through.

Tony didn’t stop to acknowledge the others as he flew straight to the spider kid and pulled the rope off. He heard a protest from Clint and Bucky, but ignored it as he helped Peter sit on the table, careful not to touch his shoulder. “Are you okay?”

The kid - chipper as ever - laughed. “Yeah I’m fine Mr. Sta- Iron Man, sir. We were just playing some getting-to-know-you games. I mean, yeah some of it was a little painful on my end, but nothing I haven’t dealt with before.”

“You don’t seem to be bleeding much, anything life threatening I should know about?” Tony rolled his eyes. This kid was going to be the death of him.

“Nope. Just a few cuts and bruises, but they’ll be gone in a few hours. Oh my shoulder is dislocated though and I’d rather it not heal wrong. Also, I think I have a couple cracked ribs, but I give those until tomorrow morning until they’re all good.” Peter just shrugged his shoulders, listing his injuries like it was no big deal. If Tony didn’t know better, he would have thought the kid had a death wish. 

A small cough from behind him brought Tony out of his ‘worried father bubble’ and he turned to face the three others behind him. “That’s Peter.” Nat commented, not bothering to ask. Clint and Bucky both let out a loud “What?” looking back a forth between Peter and Tony. 

Peter’s shoulders sagged a little as he reached up to take off his mask. “I guess if anyone is going to find out about my identity, a group of superheroes isn’t a bad choice.”

**Author's Note:**

> I sincerely apologize for this story. More specifically the ending. My brain hurts and I wanted to get this out before I leave for a cruise. Therefore, it ends the way it does. 
> 
> Thank you again for reading! Please leave a kudos or comment if you enjoyed it!


End file.
